Washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERASTUS LAWRENCE, OF DUBLIN, INDIAN.

WASHINGQMACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,34'7, dated September 9, 1851.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ERAsrUs LAWRENCE, of Dublin, in the county of Wayne and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Vashing Clothes and other Articles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a view in perspective of my washing machine, and Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same.

My invention consists in a system of me chanical devices which are operated conveniently by hand, and by whose action, clothes and other articles are thoroughly rubbed and turned to be rubbed on different surfaces, or in different positions, in a manner closely resembling the manipulation of the washerwoman but without being touched by the hands of the operator.

The machine consists essentially of a tub or vat and of the rubbing apparatus. The tub A represented in the accompanying drawing is in this instance rect-angular, it is supported at a convenient height by four legs b, b1, Z22, b3, one, b, of which is extended above the tub to form the standard C which ysustains the working portions of the machine. The tub is for convenience, divided into two compartments one, D7 of which may be used for rinsing and the other E for washing, and each of these compartments is fitted with a plug hole through which the water may be drawn olf at will.

The rubbing and turning apparatus consists mainly of two parts, the one of which is stationary while the other is actuated by power. The stationary member consists of a series of rollers e e, whose gudgeons are arranged to turn freely in a pair of plates f which are secured to the opposite ends of the washing compartment E of the tub, by bolts g. The bolts are passed through slots in the bars so that the latter can be moved to ad just them in any required position. The moving or working member of the apparatus consists of a grooved board H which is secured to the lower extremity of an upright I. The latter is mortised to admit a.

hand lever J which is passed through and.

pivoted in the mortise of the upright, and is pivoted at its hinder extremity to the i standard C. The upper extremity of the upright I is connected with the corresponding extremity of the'standard C by means of a jointed link K, whose joint z' is connected by a rod L with a second hand lever M, which is also pivoted to the standard C. The hand lever J is connected with a spring O which tends to raise it whenever it is depressed.

In order to wash clothes with this machine water is placed in the tub, and the two lever handles J, M, are raised to the position in which they are represented in Fig. l. By this operation the rubbing board H is lifted and is movedaway from the rollers; the clothes previously prepared with soap in the usual manner are now inserted between the rubbing board and the rollers; and the levers J, M, are depressed, by which opera tion the rubbing board is depressed and moved toward the rollers, thus compressing the clothes between the two. The lever J is now alternately raised and depressed to raise and depress the rubbing board, which ,act` ing in connection with the rollers effects the thorough rubbing of the clothes, while at the same time the operator can graduate the pressure of the vrubbing board upon the clothes by bearing lighter or more strongly with his hand upon the lever M; this lever as before described acts through the intervention of the rod L upon the joint of the link bar K, which when straightened acts as a pair of toggled levers to force the rubbing board against the clothes.

IVhen the clothes have been rubbed a few strokes in the above manner the operator raises both the levers to move the rubbing block from the clothe-s and allow the latter to drop back and assume a new position in the tub, and by again depressing the levers the clothes are again compressed to be again rubbed in fresh places by the continued movement of the lever handle J.

As the clothes in dropping back from the rollers and expanding from their compressed state assume new positions, each backward and forward movement of the rubbing board will have the eifect of turning the clothes to present fresh surfaces to be rubbed without requiring the operator to touch them; while, at the same time, the pressure in rubbing can be graduated to the particular kind of clothes which are being operated upon. It will thus be seen that the operation of this machine closely rescribed of the levers, link bar, and rubbing 10 sembles the movements of the laundress in board for the purposes herein specified. Washing by hand While the vvorkA is per- In 'testimony whereof I have hereunto formed With greater speed as a much larger subscribed my name.

quantity of clothes are operated upon at a time. ERASTUS LAWRENCE.

That I claim as my invention and desire` litnesses:

to secure by Letters Patent is- W. D. BARRETT,

The combination substantially as de- L. L. LAWRENCE. 

